


Beyond the Bounds of This World

by Oloriel



Category: Dí Rénjié | Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)
Genre: F/M, Major Spoilers Ahead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:57:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oloriel/pseuds/Oloriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's much more than memories beyond the bounds of this world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beyond the Bounds of This World

**Author's Note:**

> Author's notes:
> 
> 1\. I am just playing with Lin Qian Yu and Tsui Hark's sandboxes. No profit is made from this story.
> 
> 2\. This is my first fanfiction, so if you have any constructive criticism, please leave a line or two so I may improve my creative writing skills.

The white light of noon suddenly flooded my eyes and blinded me. Out of instinct, I shook my head to shield myself from the light with loosened hair as I heard the all too familiar sound of Dee's steps and his cry of horror.

But it was too late.

As the poison begins its work, my blood, heated by the sun's raw energy ran as rivers of lava inside me. Black smoke, smelling of burnt flesh begins to pour forth from my facial orifices, soon obscuring my vision. Certain of my approaching death, I called out to Dee to end this hopeless race with Time, that I know who is the culprit and the vital evidence is…

Even as I try to form the words with a charred tongue and burnt throat and thrust out a black, clutched hand, skin began to peel off my face, neck and hands like shavings from a carpenter's plane. My hair had already erupted in flames, licking against what remained of my scalp. Just as Dee freed me from the last of my bounds, my eyes went out, running down my face like tears I have not shed since my family's demise.

With a last attempt at speech I fell to the ground, sightless, senseless and writhing with the indescribable pain of incineration. Just as I thought I could not bear it any longer, it begin to fade away like a receding tide, until all was empty and I found myself floating above my charred body.

I died.

The realisation came as a shockwave of relief, anger and a nameless sadness so strong I was almost overwhelmed and couldn't think for a long time. But when thoughts returned to me they were not about the answer I found, nor how ironic my death is or whether Dee understood my message. They weren't even about reuniting with the families so cruelly separated from me. 

They were about Shangguan Jing'er, the Imperial Secretary, and where and how is she at this time of great peril. 

As I rose from the luxurious room and passed into a dimly lit tunnel echoing with the sound of falling water, I was reminded of the nocturnal stroll beside the lake- the blossoming trees shedding their petals in a white, subtly perfumed shower, the perfect mirror of the lake and Jing'er's tales of her childhood in the Inner Court with the then Empress. 

I remember how, all of a sudden, her voice faltered and we stopped abruptly with reins in our hands and the moonlight upon our shoulders. She stood there looking at me with dark, star-like eyes and I met them with my unhuman red orbs. There and then, love and understanding suddenly ran as hot, if not hotter than the fire-scarab poison through me and painted my cheeks like vermillion rouge and sent thousand thoughts rushed through my mind.

Here is one who clad herself in an armour wrought of anger and animosity- as I do, I thought, but underneath your spirit runs true to your name- Serena. You may be blinded by your fierce loyalty to the Empress, but who wouldn't towards one's parent (in all but blood) and mentor? 

Now that I see the beauty and conscience beneath your cold and haughty mask, the loss and injuries you have sustained, I understand you as I do myself. I hold that we are kindred spirits, and if you will,

"I would give you my heart in exchange for yours to cherish for life," 

"I cannot receive yours, much less give you mine, so I beseech you, Magistrate Pei, to bestow this affection either upon some other lady, or else let it die." a somewhat quivery voice answered and I was pulled back to reality as her eyes left mine.

"You would not?"

"Sacrifice Justice for Love. I am the Imperial Chaplain." she replied and turned away, her voice quivering even more.

"I know, and I hold you blameless, although the Law says otherwise," I took up her cold hand and clasped it with both of mine. "The things we do for love," 

She held herself stiff and straight, but I felt a strong tremor as she withdrew her hand and continued walking with Flowing Cloud, her horse. "We are kindred spirits, Donglai, but there can be no union between us, unless it is in the next world. You are the Supreme Justice of the land, and I am Her Majesty's Secretary. My life is at the disposal of the Empress-if she'll wed me to a foreign prince instead of her daughter or kinswoman, I will go. If she thinks I am too much of a threat to the Court, I will die." She took a deep breath "Besides, I am your chief suspect, it would not do if you have any affection for me,"

"I know, but at least, stay safe,," I took her hands and pulled her to face me as we reached the end of the path. "You know too much, Imperial Secretary Shang'guan, and our enemy lurks in the dark. So look out for yourself,"

"As I would say to you, Magistrate Pei," she smiled at me and enclosed something in my hands. Mounting Flowing Cloud, she galloped away, leaving me standing beside a weeping willow, holding a jade pendant in the likeness of a double-blossom lotus. 

…...

The vision faded and I found myself, too, standing at the end of the passage. Ahead of me is a great wooden bridge with black-lacquered railings fitted with silver. It spanned a wide river originating from a sulphurous waterfall and edged by a long hedge of a curious red blossom. A steady stream of people clad in everything from fine silks to rags passed over it, but my eyes were caught by a red profile by the stone lantern at the start of the bridge.   
The garments seemed oddly familiar to me and as I approached, I recalled that the mechanical Chaplain at Ghost Bazzar were also clad in these fiery raiment. 

I stopped dead in my tracks. She is too skilled and ruthless for any assassin, yet,yet..... It cannot be........

The figure slowly turned around and beside the lantern stood the Imperial Chaplain in her flame-coloured robes stained with maroon patches turning brown. Her eyes widened as she recognised me and I stood, frozen with shock. Seeing this, she smiled and pulled me into a long and suffocation-inducing embrace-which is rather strange, considering we are both dead.

When we finally separated, a common question emerged.

"How did you die?"

"Incinerated by Fire Scarab poison,"  
"Impaled by spears,"

We looked at each other again and laughed. The world of living is behind us now, as is all our political and legal probations. We were free to love each other and best of all, to reunite with our families, whom we have not seen for many years.

"How do you think they'll see me?" I asked her as I took out the jade ornament and my spherical incense burner. 

"Happy to see you, that's for certain," she took the incense burner and fastened it to her necklace. "But probably sad too- you are too young to come here,"

"My only sister died when she was a babe," I said as I slipped her jade ornament beneath my undershirt. "Do you think, Jing’er that people here would grow older as they would in the living world?"

"Perhaps," she said as she took my hand and a red cord appeared out of thin air and fastened itself around our wrists. "Do you want to find out?"

"Of course," I smiled at her and bound by affection, marriage and firmly interlaced hands, we proceeded to the bridge and walked into the mist, having thanked the Old Man in The Moon for his approval. Behind us, I seem to hear the callings of an old friend and the imperious voice of a woman, bidding us peace and many a merry reunion with families and friends.

There are more than memories beyond the bounds of this world, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: The Imperial Secretary's name, Shang'guan Jing'er can be translated to Serena Shang'guan in English as Jing'er means the Serene One in Chinese. Serena just sounds less stereotypical of a great and ancient culture.
> 
> Note 2. In the Tang Dynasty, officials and bureaucrats are verbally named by their family name + their office, so we have Magistrate Pei etc.
> 
> Note 3. The traditional Chinese naming process would give the person at least two names. One would be their parent name, which wouldn't be used except in governmental lists and by the parents (it's actually considered to be extremely impolite if you addressed someone by their parent name, either by writing or verbally).
> 
> The other name, also given by the parents, can be used by friends and family, as well as the superiors, of the person. Pei's name, Donglai (meaning "Coming from the East") would belong to this category. 
> 
> Note 4. The Pei and Shang'guan were two prominent aristocratic families during the Tang Dynasty, having great numbers of high-ranking officials, scholars and chancellors to their credit. However, both were purged by the Empress on grounds of high treason. 
> 
> Note 5. Shang'guan Jing'er's real-life inspiration, Shang'guan Wang'er, lost her grandfather, father, elder brother, freedom and familial properties at the age of one due to the purge inflicted upon her family. She became a slave of the Inner Court with her mother, but was taught to read and write by her mother and court scholars. At the age of thirteen she met the Emperor (Empress Wu has always used the masculine title during her rule) and her talent were recognised. She went on to become a scholar, poet and powerful courtier-she was indeed the Empress' personal secretary.
> 
> After Emperor Wu's death, she became a consort of her son, the short-lived Zhongzhong. However, she was involved in a political intrigue surrounding this Emperor's death and the second Emperor after Zhongzhong, Xianzhong, ordered her to suicide. She was in her early 40's when she died.
> 
> Note 6. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is actually a cinematic adaptation of the eponymous Chinese novel in which Pei Donglai has a lot of backstory. The prequel film is coming out this year. 
> 
> Note 7. The "incense burner" a.k.a flash bomb.
> 
> http://kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com/en/144K1186K1899.html
> 
> Tsui Hark went away a bit with his imagination here as there were only silver and gold gilt incense burners and no flash bombs in the Tang Dynasty. This thing has a little bowl inside with balancing rings around it so the bowl with smouldering incense would remain upright even if the incense burner is turned upside down or rolled around. They were only possessed by the elite, which may or may not have been used by Tsui Hark to hint at Donglai's background.


End file.
